Could Scotland hold the key for a Rally GB revival?

It has been six long years since the UK experienced the evocative sights and sounds of World Rally Championship cars rocketing through its rally stages.

Rally GB was once one of the cornerstone events of the WRC, a landmark date in the British motorsport calendar. For motorsport fans and the UK rallying community, its absence is a crying shame.

But after years in the wilderness, there appears to be a glimmer of hope that Rally GB can be revived. Rallying’s top flight could once again return to British shores thanks to a proposal to bring the WRC to Scotland.

While Formula 1, MotoGP and Formula E all visit the UK, there are two gaping holes in the British motorsport calendar following the disappearance, at the end of 2019, of the WRC’s Rally GB and the World Endurance Championship round at Silverstone.

International rallying has been making a comeback in Britain, with Wales hosting a round of the European Rally Championship – Rali Ceredigion – last summer as part of a multi-year deal

Having been a round of the WRC since 1973, Rally GB’s demise can be attributed to a combination of a loss of funding from the Welsh government and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There have been attempts to take the WRC to Northern Ireland through a bid headed by businessman Bobby Willis, although securing funding proved to be the stumbling block.

But international rallying has been making a comeback in Britain, with Wales hosting a round of the European Rally Championship – Rali Ceredigion – last summer as part of a multi-year deal.  

Following Ceredigion’s success, momentum is building to secure the WRC’s return to Britain. For more than a year, Motorsport UK has been working on a proposal to secure a three-year deal to host the WRC in Scotland. The ambition is for the agreement to begin as early as next year.

Rali Ceredigion ERC round – won by ex-WRC driver Hayden Paddon – was a big hit in 2024

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Motorsport UK last year conducted a feasibility study for an event in Aberdeen, which the organisation believes is the best prospect to revive Rally GB. It recently met with stakeholders and WRC Promoter’s event organiser Simon Larkin to discuss the bid, while it has continued talking to EventScotland, a department within the country’s national tourism agency in Edinburgh.

The proposed Aberdeen-based rally would use the picturesque gravel roads of the Grampian and Moray regions, while the city’s 9000 square-metre, multi-purpose P&J Live Arena would host Rally HQ and the service park.

The area has a history of hosting events courtesy of the Grampian Forest Rally, which is part of the British Rally Championship. Should the project come off, it would be the first time the WRC has visited Scotland since it held stages of the RAC Rally in 1992.

“We’ve made fantastic progress in Scotland and I have to say that the leadership teams in Aberdeen and the Aberdeenshire council really have grasped the vision of bringing the WRC to Scotland and into their home region with real enthusiasm,” says Motorsport UK CEO Hugh Chambers. “The general mood is one full of optimism and people really want to make this happen.

“Having been involved in lots of these types of projects, multi-stakeholder projects that involve government, there are obviously lots of different gateways. There are a lot of moving parts within the mix but I genuinely think we have an event that is ticking all the boxes and is really working, not just for Aberdeen and the Aberdeenshire council, but Scotland in general.

“And WRC Promoter is supportive, so we think it will be fantastic for motorsport and rallying in this country.”

Securing a deal for 2026 is ambitious, with Rally GB facing stiff opposition. The WRC is currently fielding bids from a host of nations wishing to join the schedule next year. Croatia’s return to the calendar has already been confirmed, while the WRC has stated that one of its key targets is to take the championship to the United States next year.

Paraguay and Saudi Arabia have joined the series this year, both signing multi-year contracts. Indonesia has recently signalled its intention to return to the WRC, while Ireland is advanced with its bid to join the schedule. The latter has targeted raising €15million from the Irish government to fund a WRC event for three years.  

Motorsport UK CEO Chambers points to “fantastic progress” made

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

“Our objective is a three-year commitment starting in 2026,” adds Chambers. “Obviously, when you talk to WRC Promoter, there isn’t much room in the calendar going into 2026 and already things are pretty full – whereas in 2027 there is a bit more flexibility.

“Our objective is to push to get an event in 2026 that would be in the autumn. I do think we have got momentum behind it, but at the end of the day it requires a significant level of government funding – local, regional and national.”

While the proposal appears to tick many boxes, it will only have a chance of coming to fruition if the necessary funding is secured, and that’s the next hurdle the bid faces. Hosting major sporting events is a costly exercise and could require as much as £4million, using Rally Ireland’s proposal as a template.

Convincing governments at all levels to back the bid is crucial, with Motorsport UK setting a summer deadline for submitting a formal application to host a WRC round in 2026. If the funding deadline isn’t met, then 2027 would be the next target.

“The pressure on the public purse comes in so many directions, so we need to demonstrate that this provides an extraordinary return on investment” Hugh Chambers

Chambers admits that sourcing funding for sporting events has become increasingly difficult, but believes the Rally GB proposal has the ingredients to appeal to potential partners. It has already been estimated that bringing the WRC to Scotland would generate more than £80million for the local economy.

“It has got harder and harder in general to get funding into sport, with the exception of the super-sports, the Formula 1s and the Premier Leagues of this world,” points out Chambers.

“But I think there is a flight to quality and this is a quality product that will appeal to commercial partnerships. It already has tremendous support from the stakeholders in Scotland, but the last bit of the puzzle is the funding model and everyone is very aware of that. We need to make sure that all the stakeholders that matter see value for money in this.

“The pressure on the public purse comes in so many directions, so we need to demonstrate that this provides an extraordinary return on investment, which I think we are doing.

Top-flight rallying’s last visit to Scotland was in 1992

Photo by: McKlein

“The next stages [of the proposal] are that it’s going through the various levels of stakeholders, regionally and nationally. Those meetings are ongoing over the next two or three months. I would hope that by the early summer we’ve managed to conclude things positively.”

Fortunately, securing large amounts of funding from government is not always a prerequisite for hosting an international rally, as Rali Ceredigion proved last year. Granted, hosting an ERC event requires less investment than the WRC, but it’s still a significant chunk of money.

In the case of Rali Ceredigion, the majority of the funding to stage the event, led by a passionate group of volunteers, came from local businesses and the local council. They believed in the project and the impact it could deliver to the region. 

The Rally GB proposal appears to have already struck a chord within the local business community, according to VisitAberdeenshire CEO Chris Foy, who feels a balance of backing from government and the community could be possible.

“There are still a number of i’s to dot and t’s to cross on this; it’s not over the line yet,” states Foy. “But I think there is a strong proposal for those that need to support it. We have certainly seen that in the business community here, they are thinking about the bigger picture.

“It could bring a lot of value to not just Aberdeen but to that whole corner of Scotland. We like to think that this corner of Scotland is where tourism can grow. We have got the hotels, the venues and the wide-open spaces, and when it comes to motorsport heritage, it is very strong here.

“There is a lot of passion for motorsport, and then you’ve got the whole energy side of the north east of Scotland; it was at the vanguard of oil and gas 50 years ago and is very much a leader for renewable energy these days. That connection with engineering and energy, it all adds up very nicely with the culture and the heritage to be a good host destination for WRC.”

The clock is now ticking to secure the funding and take the bid to the next level. It may be too early to get excited, but there is at least hope that the sights and sounds of WRC cars on British gravel could soon return.

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Photo by: McKlein